Robby Thompson highlights Wedge’s coaching staff

New Mariners manager Eric Wedge has finalized his coaching staff for next season, the team announced Thursday, and he has a long history with his new right-hand man.

Robby Thompson

Former Giants all-star second baseman Robby Thompson, 48, will serve as Wedge’s bench and infield coach. He joins the Mariners from the Cleveland Indians, where he served as the special assistant to baseball operations during Wedge’s stint as manager. Thompson also served as Wedge’s bench coach for the 2005 season.

“He’s a great mind and has a championship presence to him,” Wedge said on Thompson during a Thursday conference call with reporters. “He’s just a good baseball guy.”

Thompson returned to the front office after the 2005 season so he could spend more time with his three high school-aged sons. Two of his sons are now playing professional ball and one is playing in college.

“I guess he has the empty nest now and he’s ready to get back to work,” Wedge joked.

Carl Willis, 49, remains the pitching coach. Willis took over the job when former pitching coach Rick Adair was fired along with manager Don Wakamatsu in August. Before joining the Mariners as their minor league pitching coordinator, he served as Wedge’s pitching coach in Cleveland, where he helped develop CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee, among others.

“He somebody who I regard as one of the best pitching coaches in the game,” Wedge said of Willis. “I have all the trust in the world in him.”

Chris Chambliss, 61, will be the hitting coach. Chambliss spent the past two seasons managing the Chicago White Sox Triple-A team in Charlotte. He serves as the New York Yankees hitting coach in 1988 and from 1996-2000, when he won four World Series rings. He held the same role with the St. Louis Cardinals (1993-95), New York Mets (2002) and Cincinnati Reds (2004-06).

“Eric and I had a lot of great dialogue during the process of putting this staff together” Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik said in a new release. “There is a good blend of experience and talent joining our Major League coaching staff.”

Mike Brumley, 47, will return as the first base, outfield and baserunning coach. Brumley, 47, split time last season coaching first and third base.

Third base and catching coach Jeff Datz, 50, spent last season as the Baltimore Orioles bench coach. He was Wedge’s bench coach in Cleveland from 2007-09.

Jamie Navarro, 43, was the pitching coach at Triple-A Tacoma last season and will serve as the new bullpen coach.

Jason Phillips, 34, will be the bullpen catcher.

Zduriencik also said Daren Brown, who served as interim manger after Wakamatsu’s dismissal, will return to Tacoma and resume managerial duties.